Vicky’s ordeal should never be repeated
THE treatment of Vicky Phelan, who is facing death due to cervical cancer misdiagnosis, has been absolutely appalling (Irish Daily Mail, yesterday).
Reports say her smear test was assessed in Austin, Texas, against the less stringent standards of the US and, once an error was found, she was kept in the dark.
Grave questions remain from this case, notwithstanding Health Minister Simon Harris’s assurance that the CervicalCheck service is safe. If the work of checking smear tests was outsourced by the Irish government to the US due to a lack of facilities here then why wasn’t the laboratory in Texas monitored to Irish or EU standards?
In addition, what has happened to Ms Phelan just shows the folly of outsourcing key work to a laboratory 7,500 kilometres away when the similar facilities will do the work across the EU.
It should also be noted that Austin, Texas, is six hours behind Irish time so if an error was picked up in the afternoon in Texas then presumably any message would not be dealt with here by the following day our time.
It is high time Mr Harris looks at bringing the job of assessing smear tests closer to home so the work of any laboratory, here or in the EU, can be more closely monitored.
Outsourcing of key tasks like this must be rethought.
AOIFE KELLY, Cork.
Banking on chaos
THE scandal-hit Ulster Bank suffered a huge system crash in 2012 that deprived people of banking services for weeks. Ulster Bank was fined €3.5million for that computer glitch.
After that bosses said they upgraded everything in the bank which they were very proud of. What a joke! Six years on, money has disappeared from the accounts of Ulster Bank customers again.
Customers woke up to find funds including monthly salaries had vanished. Some have had their cards declined when making purchases and this is a total disgrace.
This is as bad as the tracker mortgage scandal a while back.
Bankers have shown no mercy to people in difficulties who can’t keep a roof over their heads with evictions and repossessions. The Central Bank of Ireland must take steps to compensate customers and put what’s wrong right. NOEL HARRINGTON, Kinsale, Co. Cork.
Ball games
I LOVE football, but am ashamed of the conduct of high-profile players. They swear, spit, fight, dive and cheat, and argue with the referee about every decision.
It is time we have robust discipline from the FA, with long bans for breaking the rules. A fine is no deterrent when players are earning thousands of pounds a week.
If only football could emulate the gentlemen of snooker.
I have seen a snooker player call a foul on his own shot when it had not been seen by the referee or his opponent.
And when a referee called a foul, both players informed him it was a clean shot.
These decisions cost the honest player the match, but there is no arguing or moaning in snooker.
A. BERWICK, Northampton.